bacta- it's an old ugly guy in the cloak (vaders butler?) he is only in that shot and bows and says krennic is here to vader who is in the tank like he is in the BTS video it's all steamy and you see the bacta drain revealing his charred head and scars but you don't see his face (could be anybody) all this takes place in VADERS LAVA CASTLE!!! imagine the lava world (sullust?) from battlefront with the big tall mcquarrie castle!

i think tarkin is about as damn good as he can be i thought it was great but agreed with my friends that it might have been more effective if he was shown in reflections/profile shots etc but he is a MAIN CHARACTER! so wouldn't have been pracical to hide him away!

vader is in it twice castle scene/bacta/meets krennic then the last 5 minutes he shows up and did everything i pretty much ever wanted to see vader do! it was exactly how i pictured it in my head (maybe it's a local thing, gareth lives an hour away!) rebels are fleeing a medical frigate to get to the tantive but the door gets stuck you hear the breathing in the dark then the saber ignites and he deflects slashes throws crushes and kills em all!

Thanks, guys.And what about the rumoured prequel connections? (Besides Bail and Mon Mothma.)

At least I didn't recognise any other connections to the Prequels. But there were two connections to the Rebels:- First time we see the Yavin IV base General Syndulla is hailed twice by the com system.- Ghost is with the Rebel Fleet. I think it was shown also twice.

Thanks, guys.And what about the rumoured prequel connections? (Besides Bail and Mon Mothma.)

no jar jar or sio bibble only smitts!

best scene for me was vader doing what i've always wanted him to do i'm off to see it again in a bit but i'm itching to see that scene again! might try and film it on my friday visit as i need it on repeat lol! (trust me it's worth risking jail time for lol)

so, without giving too much away is Whitaker good as Saw? I read stuff like "over the top" which really didn't seem so in the trailers...? Quite intrigued. Also is he just here talking for a few minutes then dead as I suspect?ah well I shall see tomorrow or friday anyway ;p

so, without giving too much away is Whitaker good as Saw? I read stuff like "over the top" which really didn't seem so in the trailers...? Quite intrigued. Also is he just here talking for a few minutes then dead as I suspect?ah well I shall see tomorrow or friday anyway ;p

I liked him. Didn't feel over the top. I don't think there was anything wrong in his performance. He didn't have a really big role but he was in several scenes.

There is a short dream scene of Jyn beeing a little Girl which is set on Coruscant where u can see the skyline through the windows.

KyleKartanMG wrote:

Vaders Castle on Mustafar was another Call back to the Prequels, TCW and Rebels. They just didn't mention location of the Vader's Castle in the movie. It was confirmed by Pablo Hidalgo though. Oh, I missed that Coruscant skyline. Gotta go to see this again for a few time.

I promised myself to not take extended breaks like I did from 2012 to 2014 or now 2015 to 2016. However this time I was only "gone" for several months. I will be extremely more active from now on - which means obtaining and posting other stuff certain other derivative sites are spoiler-hording. Futhermore MF will be upgraded, alternate forum themes released, current news and sequel topics created, ...

Also MF's database had issues which resulted in some users having login issues. Those are now resolved.

in terms of Rogue One - keep in my mind there will be plenty of Star Wars theatrical episodes upcoming if this one doesn't do it for you. On the other hand Rogue One is what happens when you let the Expanded Universe dominated "Story Group" make movies.

For those of use who cannot wait camera leaks have been posted on everyone's favorite non-MF sites:

Watching the film last night, I found myself smiling widely throughout. I had no idea that Rogue One would be a unabashed love letter to OT. Thank you, Edwards and company.

My overall assessment isn't any different from other Star Wars movies. Meaning, Rogue One has moments of pure amazement and depth mixed with clunky missteps and missed opportunities.

The reviews I've read seem to fall into 2 approaches. The positives ones talk-up the wonderful fan-service and gloss over Rogue One's shortcomings. (The fan-service really is wonderful, btw.) The more negative reviews claim that the movie is only for hardcore fans and nothing special for everyone else. I think this view fails to appreciate the nuance of the characters and story line. Also: even if you've never seen a Star Wars film, where else are you going to get a climax that features a simultaneous space, air, and ground battle with dramatic consequences? This movie is far from generic-thoughtless-disposable Hollywood entertainment.

For me, I wish the movie took the moral ambiguity of the characters even further. (Maybe it could have been a Star Wars version of The Wild Bunch?)

It's too bad that McQuarrie didn't lived to see Rogue One. Of all the Star Wars films, this one feels the most concrete, and, by extension, the closest to McQuarrie's images.

in terms of Rogue One - keep in my mind there will be plenty of Star Wars theatrical episodes upcoming if this one doesn't do it for you. On the other hand Rogue One is what happens when you let the Expanded Universe dominated "Story Group" make movies.

But we need Rogue One to do very well in order to keep getting Star Wars movies like it.

I consider this to be the first adult Star Wars movie.

I had hoped the PT was going to be this way.

The tone, the art direction, etc.

It should have felt bleak, like everybody knew that the Republic was coming apart. The idea of watching a train wreck in slow motion.

Heavily cross-cut and energetic finale (most of what I look forward to in a Star Wars film)

Vader unleashed on puny rebels in that corridor

Carrie, is that you?!

But I'm starting to cool on my initial ecstasy over the film. Some issues:

Painfully languid mid-portion

Mostly uninspired action beats

Unclear sense of Bodhi's early mental issue

Convoluted, overwrought motivations regarding Galen Erso

Chirrut's silly mantra recitations

Lack of direness in key set pieces

Utterly, utterly pedestrian camerawork

A part of me perversely wishes they really tried to match the ANH aesthetic to meld the two films. Down to the use of film stock (this was digital, I believe), camera, lenses and lighting strategy.

In any case, I have a renewed interest in Gareth Edwards as a director (even after 2014's Turdzilla) and the continuation of Disney/Lucasfilm's "A Star Wars Story" series. More truer to the cinematic spirit of the ENTIRE Star Wars saga than TFA.

And I agree about the "Story Group" being a powerful cabal of EU-lovers. I think they're, as Dave Filoni put it on The Star Wars Show, too "in-universe." What makes Star Wars unique and keeps it fresh is inspiration drawn from world culture, history and wildly imaginative artists who aren't afraid of experimenting. Lucas excelled at making that his MO on the films he was responsible for. Who else would construct a creative facility (the main house at Skywalker Ranch) with a multi-story library built into it? The world's a big place and it's easy to get myopic.

Will write full thoughts tomorrow, but there were parts of this movie where I literally felt like a 4-year old kid again watching Star Wars for the first time with my Dad. Choked me up.

It's very much a "fan service" kind of movie, but never feels out of place with the canon. I could not fucking believe what I was watching when Vader slaughtered the rebel soldiers at the end. I was in full "losing my shit" mode in a way I can't remember ever feeling in a movie theatre. I still can't believe what I saw.

Tarkin took me out of the movie. We are not yet at the point where we can reproduce a human being digitally. It felt like I was watching a special effect and not a character. Leia not having much to say felt way less distracting, and was done better.

One thing I don't get: how could Leia possibly make the case that the Tantive was on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan if that ship was LITERALLY just seen fleeing from Scariff, the scene of the crime? It's not like she was in space, the rebels beam the plans and Vader traced the signal. There is no alibi. Further to that, why the hell is Leia's ship in a war-zone? High risk for a senator, no?

I'll get into my small gripes later, but I can't believe they couldn't get the Vader armour right. No excuse for the suit at the end not to be identical to the ANH version. I have no idea why they didn't hire the team who builds the Vader suits / statues for sale. Shocking actually.

I've seen it twice already, and my brain is still spinning out of control.

I love this movie, even though I have been a bit skeptical about the whole spin-off/anthology/Star Wars story/thing.

I can only name a couple of things that were less than perfect:- I thought CG Tarkin was fine, but there were two or three "Final Fantasy" moments, in the way he moved his head or how his eyes look kind of vacant or digital at times. But I really admire ILM for having the balls to go this far and feature the character this much. They could have just made him a holographic message for most of the time, but did it this way instead. Also, because of my scrutiny of Tarkin's look, it occurred to me that this is probably the first Star Wars movie that could actually look better on a small screen.

- James Earl Jones voice. Jones can do no wrong, imo, but there is something off about his Rogue One Vader voice, and it's not his age. He sounds almost too smooth or something. Maybe because he's fucking with Krennic? I like his "don't choke on your aspirations" line, though.

Other than those nitpicks, I thought it was fine. I'm good with no opening crawl since this is not part of the episodic movies. It's an elaborate side bar that tells this one short intense tale, and does it very well.

good write up about the reshoots and just how vastly different the ending was originally.

Very interesting.

Quote:

In the Rogue One trailer from August (released after the reshoots), we see Jyn on the Imperial tower walking the platform towards the control panel that she uses to change the dish’s direction in the final cut of the film. But in the trailer, a TIE Fighter rises up from below. What was originally happening in this scene?

Maybe Krennic originally had one of his men grab a TIE Fighter to head off Jyn at the pass, while Krennic took the elevator.

Quote:

One of the most iconic pieces of imagery from the Rogue One marketing campaign features the squad of Stormtroopers patrolling through the knee-deep water on Scarif.

If I recall, we never saw footage of this, just stills. So it was probably either a publicity photoshoot, or a backplate, or one brief wet moment that is somewhere in the deep background in the film. We do see Imperial Troopers in the water at some point, just not these guys.

The cinematography in the opening 20 minutes was just gorgeous. Such great atmosphere at all those early locations.

The rebel Alliance was portrayed much differently than I imagined. Much more harsh and conflicted, but it felt very realistic. When fighting the Empire, hard to follow rules.

Leia looked more fake than Tarkin to me. But as was stated above, props to ILM for having the guts to go there to that extent.

All the hero characters were fleshed out effectively. I cared about them as the film wore on, even though their fates were pretty well decided.

So much to get into with Vader! Why would he choose Mustafar to have his castle? Who was that old servant who announced Krennic had arrived? And thank God for James Earl Jones and his good health that he could perform the voice as expertly as he did.

This is a great addition to the saga. Very different in many ways, but it had to take chances, being a stand alone film. Bravo to Gareth Edwards and everyone at Lucasfilm on a job well done.

but there were parts of this movie where I literally felt like a 4-year old kid again watching Star Wars for the first time with my Dad. Choked me up.

Same here! I just loved this movie. I walked out of the theater absolutely thrilled. Like others have mentioned, there are little things that I can perhaps nitpick about, like the CG of Tarkin at times. We knew going in there would be no opening crawl but that still seemed out of place for me.. as did the score. I thought the score was just fine but the magic of John Williams was noticeably absent. But none of those things detracted from my overall experience.

I have to see it again on a bigger screen but wow.. this one is up there as one of my absolute favourites!

Before I saw Rogue One I didn't want it or the other standalones to have an opening crawl, although I did think there needed to be something to set up the story. The opening shot, while beautiful, was a jarring way to start the film. The stand alone films need a more stylized opening if they aren't going to have a crawl because this just felt like something was missing.

Some of the character motivations aren't fleshed out enough. Jyn is supposed to be the reluctant hero but she's never properly established as being disillusioned with the rebel cause or her place in the world. We go from her being in jail, to her being rescued, to her joining this mission without any fuss. There needed to be more set up of a despondent maybe even suicidal Jyn for the rest of her arc to fully pay off. She also becomes too much of a leader too quickly following Galen's death. We needed a scene or two before her speech to the Alliance Council, possibly channeling her grief into something more constructive to honour her father, for that to jive properly. That would make her last scene resonate more too when Cassian tells her that her father would be proud of her.

We definitely needed to know more about Bodhi. This guy defects because Galen was a nice guy? It would have been helpful to know what triggered his turn. Was he asked to fire on innocent people? Did he witness some wartime atrocity? I think the first character in the "present day" to be introduced in this film should have been Bodhi, not Cassian, and it should have been the events around his defection so the rest of the plot made more sense.

Both of the Guardians of the Whills were awesome. Obviously Donnie Yen was a standout character in this film, and I think that character will be a mainstay in the expanded lore. The chemistry between those two characters were the strongest of any of the leads. K2 was the other main standout of the group, but he never felt like the Chewbacca to Cassian's Solo. That relationship was definitely underdeveloped and this is my overall gripe with the movie: the characters aren't fleshed out individually enough for me to love them, and their relationship with each another is only half baked. I never got the sense that these characters actually cared about each other. This is where Force Awakens is leaps and bounds above Rogue One.

Krennic: awesome concept of a character and a fantastic actor to play him, but I was shocked how subservient his role was to Tarkin's. I've read most of Catalyst and Krennic is this manipulative and clever officer who wants nothing more than to be part of the Imperial Elite. In the movie I don't feel his menace, and he never really has much to do because of how central Tarkin's role is. This was a big time miscalculation by the story group and writers. They decided to favour a CG recreation of a dead actor's character over a new and potentially interesting one played by a live person. It's actually pretty batshit stupid. No wonder Lucas was proud. Tarkin should have absolutely been part of this story but I thought they would be far more clever about how they integrated him into the film. Show his reflection from glass while he's shot from behind, make him communicate via a holo recording, and maybe even use archived footage. Part of me wants to give them props for totally going for it, but they should have known better once they saw the results. It completely took me out of a movie that was otherwise flawless visually.

The visuals are outstanding and the world building is top notch. I loved the variety in the new environments and feeling the oppression of the Empire. I fucking ate up all of the fan service nods, even the cheap ones like Ponda Baba and Dr. Evazan. Bail referencing Obi-wan and Leia, Chopper and the Ghost at Yavin, General Sendulla being hailed to the briefing room, RED and GOLD FUCKING LEADERS DURING SCARIF ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!!?! All of that shit was boner-inducing stuff. I did think that Artoo and Threepio's cameo should have been on the Tantive before they showed the shot of Leia.

Galen Erso being the architect of the exhaust port flaw is brilliant, as is the way the final act plays out to get the information from Scarif to the fleet. I was equally invested in the ground battle, Jyn and Cassian's heist and the space battle above. This is where Rogue One does it better than Force Awakens.

Vader: Everything about his castle was awesome, from the reference to the original ESB script to floating Anakin in bacta. I was very shocked they didn't nail the costume design and it immediately jumped out that this wasn't David Prowse. The hand motions were less fluid and confident and more awkward. That and the costume was lit terribly, especially the oversized helmet. More ROTJ than ANH in voice performance, but that's hardly JEJ's fault. I actually think Vader's appearance on Rebels nailed the voice track better. But then...who fucking cares about those details because the scene in the cruiser hallway might have been the number 1, 2 or 3 Vader scene in the entire fucking canon. Definitely number 1 on the badass scale. Holy goddamn hell. I have never had a reaction that strong in a movie theatre. Ever. The brains of everyone in that room were melted.

The score: It had its moments, and the references to classic themes were nice, but overall it didn't have much of a personality on its own. Giacchino missed an opportunity to flesh out the Empire's theme from ANH. In fact I thought the Rogue One score should have referenced the ANH score more and didn't. it probably would have helped considering the tight window he had to write it.

The ending: for a script that was so clever at making ANH a better movie by explaining the weakness in the Death Star and investing us further in the plight of the Rebellion, I was shocked by the filmmakers' decision to have the Tantive present at the Scarif battle and for Vader to witness its escape with the plans first hand. It literally transforms Antilles' and Leia's story from being a "believable" cover to a completely laughable lie. They were literally caught with their hand in the cookie jar, chewing on cookies, with cookie crumbs on their faces and saying they didn't do it. That really changes the opening scene of ANH for the worse in my view, and makes some of the dialogue feel odd.

"I have traced the rebel spies to her, now she is my only link to finding their secret base." -- you weren't really tracing rebels spies at all; you intercepted a rebel cruiser while it was fleeing battle, cut down rebel soldiers who were playing pass the baton with the stolen plans, and watched the very ship you captured flee. There was never any direct link between Leia and the spies. Further to that, the search for the rebel base was never a plot point in this film but definitely should have been considering its importance in ANH. The very characters who seem obsessed with finding it in ANH say nothing of it in Rogue One.

I know I've been picking at the film but that's what us geeks do. Overall, I really enjoyed it. Thought it was fun as fuck, added tons to the mythos, and has some of the best moments in all of Star Wars. I loved the tone and the newness of it all and now believe the standalones can really work.